Worse, because it turns out the iPhone 4 may actually be reporting better reception than it should. "Our [software] formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength." So if you're hanging out with four or five bars but your calls still get dropped or the quality is poor, that could be because the iPhone 4 is being a little, erm, optimistic when it comes to AT&T's network strength.

There even seems to be a hint at all that left-handed business (emphasis ours):

Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don't know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.

So, if you've been testing out your iPhone in your left hand and everything seemed okay, maybe it's not. This all sounds like a huge bummer, but wouldn't you rather the iPhone give it to you straight when its signal strength is fading?

As for what happens next, Apple is "stunned" that its formula is "totally wrong," and the company will "issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula."